Fall, 1963

I discovered Op Art while at college.  Although I was always interested in optical illusions and patterns, Op Art seem to mix the two together which created an effect that is like no other.

Bridget Riley, in my opinion the best Op Artist of all time, creates mind blowing patterns and illusions that appear to move.  My Favourite being “Fall 1963″.  It is like no other image i could imagine.  Op Art goes beyond creativity. It is about mathematics and science.  One line out of place and you can miss the illusion.

The most incredible about Bridget Rily’s “The Fall” is that it is painted. No machines, computers (not that I know of) has helped to create this image and it is perfect. Each line is perfectly spaced. The black lines have a perfect flat shade. That in itself is an art.

Unfortunately, you cannot fully appreciate this peice on a computer screen. You really have to see this on a flat white wall; just hanging there. The lines produce shimmering waves when you look at it, your eyes blur automatically and you become lost in an optical “Waterfull”.  When you look away from this image and stare at a blank, flat, white wall; the wall appears to be moving!

Although some of her works seem to move away from the Op Art and become straight abstract, they all have a certain style. You can recognise a Riley straight away and that is what I admire about her work.

Relativity, 1953

The Op Art era comes after MC Escher. Works like Relativity 1953 although don’t have a direct relationship do have the same sense of mystery and confusion.  Bringing reality into fantasy is a good way to confuse the mind and similarly using mathematical patterns to trick the mind also confuse your brain.

What is amazing about MC Escher, is how he actually thinks up these works. Looking at “Realtivity”, its hard to even find some sort of focus.  Its impossible to reason with this picture.  Which way are they going? The amount of perspective that has been thought of is astounding. How do you plan such an image? and for some rediculous reason it all seems to make sense!

It is the confusion that both these styles of works produce that make them similar not the actual visual aspects.
Coming back to the title of this article, “Lets begin the rebirth of Op Art”, it would be great to see young artists creating art that once again tricks the mind. But we can argue that art usually moves with the times. Op Art was being created around the time of psychedelic experiences and hippy travellers.